Vehicles can be automatically monitored with an electronic vehicle identification system, which is done with a wireless interface between a vehicle and a monitoring device. An electronic vehicle identification system is based on a RFID transponder, or tag, that is attached to a vehicle and a reader with an antenna for interrogating with the vehicle.
A RFID transponder is used for providing remotely controllable identity information of the vehicle. With the user configurable memory in the RFID transponder, the information can be written and read remotely. A RFID transponder is commonly classified, in terms of the use they make of an internal power source, as: a passive RFID transponder which has no internal power source and uses the energy of the RF radiation transmitted by the reader; an active RFID transponder which comprises an internal power source that is used for both powering the transponder and for generating the RF energy required for transmitting a response radiation; and a battery-assisted RFID transponder (also referred to as a semi-active or a semi-passive transponder) which comprises an internal power source, where the energy of the response radiation is derived from the interrogation radiation provided by the reader and the transponder circuitry is powered by the internal power source.
A battery-assisted passive (BAP) transponder has a small battery on board and is activated when in the presence of an RFID reader. The battery to powers the transponder's return reporting signal. Of course, a passive tag is cheaper and smaller because it has no battery; instead, the tag uses the radio energy transmitted by the reader. However, to operate a passive tag, it must be illuminated with a power level roughly a thousand times stronger than for signal transmission. That makes a difference in interference and in exposure to radiation.
In the passive RFID transponder, the limitation is a reading distance while the RFID transponder needs to receive its operating power from a reader. In the active RFID transponder, the RFID transponder has a transmitter which requires more complex electronics for the functionality thus resulting in high cost and consumption of power compared to the battery-assisted RFID transponder and the passive RFID transponder. The energy required for battery-assisted RFID transponder and the passive RFID transponder to function is considerably less than for the active RFID transponder.
In some applications, an RFID transponder is associated with a single vehicle. For example, a transponder attached to a vehicle has a code that identifies the vehicle and other data associated with the vehicle, such as the registered owner, the license plate number, and/or any other information about the vehicle. Users sometime attempt to remove the transponder from the vehicle and attach it to a different vehicle, despite such transfer being prohibited by the organization issuing the transponder. As such, some transponders may be provided with a mechanism whereby the transponder cannot be removed from the vehicle without permanently and irreparably destroying the transponder. This destruction creates undesired costs and inefficiency. It may be desirable to provide an RFID transponder with a tamper-proof assembly that temporarily disables the transponder if a user attempts to remove the transponder from the vehicle with which it is associated.